The Nerdist just published an interview with Simon Pegg they did from the set of Star Trek Beyond earlier this year. There are lots of encouraging details from the co-star/co-writer of the movie, as well as details on the intense writing process he and Doug Jung followed.
On the writing process:
We started out in a room at Bad Robot that’s just got white boards around the room, just blank white boards. Which is a terrifying thing to see. Then we just filled them and kind of went through so many iterations and so many story ideas. Eventually we began to hone in on what we have now, and it was a very accelerated, kind of intense process—and a difficult one.
On how to write Star Trek for modern audiences but keeping it true to its roots:
They want [things] to be a little more brash and a little more action-oriented. So we’ve had to dial that into the Star Trek brand. But at the same time that doesn’t mean that can’t be fundamentalized by all the tenants of what Star Trek is, and how those characters have evolved over the years, and to really give its DNA a kind of authenticity.
…we want it to be about them on that five-year mission. In fact, two years into that five-year mission, and how that impacted them personally and what it meant to be out in space that long. And we liked the idea of also, on the fiftieth anniversary, looking at Roddenberry’s original vision and questioning it. The whole notion of the Federation and whether it’s a good thing or a bad thing and how productive is inclusivity and what is the true cost of expansion.
Relationships between the characters and where we’ll find them as Beyond starts:
…I felt like the Kirk-Spock thing, we’d done that now. Arguably maybe too soon in a way. I think there’s still a lot of time for those guys to become super friends. Maybe we’ll do that further down the line if we do more. I felt like now it was time to move away from the bromance thing and concentrate on the idea of the crew as a family living in a small space together, and what it means to all of them. I really love the dynamic between Bones and Spock, so that’s something we’ve kind of concentrated on a little bit with this one. Kirk’s older than his dad was when he died. All that sort of psychological stuff is playing on him. Scotty’s just still Scotty.
WARNING: MINOR SPOILER ALERT!
We’ll finally get to see somewhere else in the Federation:
Part of the story at least begins with them docking up at a new Starbase which is at the very edge of space. It’s a new kind of diplomatic hub. It’s called Yorktown, and it’s right on the edge of Federation space. It’s where all the most recent Federation inductees can come and mingle with each other and sort of learn about each other.
…it’s basically a place where they can understand what being part of the Federation means, and it’s an important kind of tactical establishment for the Federation. They’re very, very far out, but it’s been built locally, so it’s very interesting to look at. It’s where the Enterprise docks up. For the first time in ten months it’s had proper contact with other people—that’s where the story begins.
There’s a lot more to read in the full interview.
Memories of old episodes, bring it on!
Sounding great Simon!
Sounds very Star Trek, and very appropriate for the fiftieth anniversary. Always tough to balance the studio desire for action and the fan desire for Trekky things.
Am fired up now – looking forward to seeing this!
Looking forward to this
ok good, love spock and bones dynamic, hoping the film is trekkie good. Tell Mr. Lin to make a classic trailer for fans of movies and fans of the show.
Its sounding very good. Sounds like Star Trek. If the movie is even close as what it sounds like from one Simon Pegg then we are all in for a big treat.
If the movie is even as close as good as one Simon Pegg is saying about Star Trek Beyond then we are all in for one big Treat. Finger’s Crossed.
I always like Simon Pegg. I truly believe he is one of us. A Hard Core Star Trek Geek. Hey. Even in one of his movies he and his costar reenacted the Kirk Gorn Scene. Lol. Takes a True Hard core fan to do that in one of his movies.
This interview and Pegs last one give me hope for this movie. I was aa little scared of all the Galaxy Quest-esque planet/bad guy/swarm/mines.
I’ll still be annoyed if we destroy the big E. Kirk is supposed to be a great tactician. You’d go back in time, face ancient gods, face enemies 500 times your size and have no doubt he’d get you back home. Nu-Kirk is a brat and is always losing his ship or nearly destroying it.
However, I am in favor of getting a New E without Popeye like warp nacelles. They’re not going to keep giving him toys if he keeps breaking them.
Maybe were seeing the destruction of the USS Franklin. Spock is wearing a USS Franklin patch on his field jacket. maybe..
Sounds really cool and I especially like the idea of more McCoy – Spock relationship, which was key in TOS.
Also interesting: That BAD ROBOT had WHITE BOARDS for Pegg and, oh, whoever else, to map out their STORY ideas on.
Again, that’s the same BAD ROBOT that is OWNED by JJ ABRAMS, the DIRECTOR of STID.
Amazing how the creative process for these movies actually works.
Pegg also correctly points out that while Paramount has its action requirements, that does not mean close the Star Trek store and go home. You can give Paramount what it wants while still creating good Star Trek.
Spoiler warning for those tempted to read the next TrekMovie Pegg Interview article:
https://trekmovie.com/2015/12/17/pegg-interview-from-set-of-beyond/
It is probably time to pack up your keyboard if it truly is important to you not to have certain plot elements revealed to you before BEYOND’s premier.
Pegg supplies a key bit of information that makes it possible to deduce what the other Federation named things’ roles are in the BEYOND film.
#7. Disinvited – December 18, 2015
Well, that’s just silly. Posted that in the wrong chain.
Better and better.
Would be nice to see a trailer for Star Trek fans on the 50th anniversary which says why this film is the one worthy of release at such an important moment for the franchise. Remember the Star Trek VI trailer?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RERAc0ipha0
Staff,
I get the feeling that this should be a chain where we pull together spoilery BEYOND talk. But it is probably prudent to hold off until you put a Spoiler warning in the title proper? I’m going to hold off posting such until I hear your thoughts on how and where to hold such discussions.
Hey, what happened to all the complaining?
Interesting stuff. I’m getting more and more intrigued every time we hear from Pegg.
This sounds very, very promising. I’ll be entertained to see how Cygnus and his band of WhineTroopers turns thus into a negative?
@Mee
Prime Kirk in TOS nearly got the E destroyed many times, but there was no special effects budget to show it. Fact!
Funny,the difference between a lot of Trek fans and Star Wars fans when it comes to spoilers. Many vocal Trek fans HATED not having info leaked from JJ’s mystery box while with Star Wars, the mystery has built the release up into a crescendo, there are even plug-ins to your browser that will block Star Wars spoilers!
When Orci first mentioned the next film would be well into the 5 year mission this is the type of scenario I hoped for…out in the edges of the frontier, with no contact with other ships, truly going where no man has goen before. Very promising indeed.
Jeez, Simon, I can see why you hated the first trailer.
OK, so let me get this straight… it’s 2 years into the mission, Kirk and crew have joined Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and the other Super Friends, and… Oh wait, did I read that right?
Anyway, it sounds like JUST MAYBE we might get something to THINK about in this film along with the motorcycle jumps and Matrix-3 squid attacks.
Fingers and webbed toes crossed!
This beats reading a comic.
Great setup!
I really hope this new starbase looks similar to that of the one in TSFS. Be cool to see the Enterprise docking inside it, parking up next to a various array of Federation vessels. Be a nice homage to Star Trek III.
@14 Getting the Enterprise (nearly) destroyed didn’t happen in *every one* of the 79 original TOS episodes. In two Rebootiverse movies, it’s happened in both – and, good or bad, it looks like we’re going to make it three-for-three next July.
When you do it *once* it might have dramatic impact or be relevant to the story – just as it was done in “Search for Spock” (although one had to admit that was at least somewhat contrived). But when you do it *every stinking time*, it becomes a tired plot device.
Who knows. Maybe they’ve got a new Enterprise they’re going to unleash on us as the reward for getting themselves out of “another fine mess”, just as they did in Trek IV, perhaps one that looks more like the Probert/TMP version rather than this curious dragster they’ve used thus far.
I’m remaining optimistic about the movie. No point in giving up just yet. Sounds to me like Pegg really wants to make a good Trek movie, and has tried to do that under whatever constraints the brass at Paramount (who obviously have no clue what Trek is) place upon him.
I still want the E to stop in on Niribu. How have they changed???
More encouraging words from Simon. Hopefully the execution will adequately flesh out these ideas. Looking forward to next July!
I love both BUT The Force Awakens has been praised for basically being A New Hope again almost verbatim..
whilst Into Darkness used one scene from TWOK and get’s trashed.
In ST-09 Enterprise held its own. The final escape from the black hole proved how reliable she was. She held on long enough to get away.
#25 I was thinking the same thing. But the two franchises live by different rules. Essential the prequels start the same as the “Original Trilogy” so it is not surprising that history will repeat itself in the third set. But that can get old. Time will tell.
Haven’t seen this pic before:
https://twitter.com/batuffoloki/status/677894299032363008
@22 Trashing the Enterprise– and engaging in big space battles in particular– is a tradition in Trek films.
The big “E” took a real pounding in 2, 6, First Contact and Insurrection. It was destroyed in 3 and Generations, and suicide-rammed the Remans in Nemesis. It did battle in “The Motion Picture” and “Final Frontier” albeit on a smaller scale.
Yes, the new movies take the space battles more “over-the-top” but who’s to say they wouldn’t have done something similar back in the 80s had they been given the budget to do so?
Something off topic:
Do you remember Aron Eisenberg? He played “Nog” on Deep Space Nine.
He started a fundraiser because he gets donated a new kidney and he seems to have some financial trouble with it and because of the time he can’t get to work. He started it to collect 10,000 dollars with 3,000 still to go. He wants to compensate his donor financially as well, who can’t work in that time of recovery as well.
I just wanted to share this here.
Here is the direct link, which I forgot to add:
https://www.gofundme.com/aronskidney
I’ve read quite a few negative comments about SW TFA being just that,a remake. lol. Seems SW fans can be pretty divided as well. I like both,so I don’t really care,and can’t wait for this movie.
J-R!
In the full interview, Pegg elaborates:
“A film that was totally in the mood of the original series would not be made today, or make money today. Because people want event cinema. They want [things] to be a little more brash and a little more action-oriented. So we’ve had to dial that into the Star Trek brand. ”
And this is where he, and the studio, are just plain wrong! A certain audience wants this, yes. The super hero movie audience. The Fast & Furious audience. But that’s not all audiences there is, and not the one they have to pursue necessarily to make money. At a time like this, where great, thoughtful hard science fiction like Gravity, Interstellar and The Martian gets made, AND makes tons of money, it couldn’t be more wrong to say that there is no audience for smart science fiction!
@ Vulcan Soul
Actually, he is correct. You mention Interstellar…great example. Watch it and 2001 back-to-back. There is a lot more action in Interstellar for today’s audiences. You mention Gravity — compare that to Marooned — same trend. Same thing with Robinson Crusoe on Mars versus The Martian. I could go on and on.
Your own examples prove the opposite of what you are trying to convey.
@ Soonerdave.
I would submit that the Enterprise damage in STID and ST-2009 was no different that significant damage that occurred in multiple TOS episodes…but, like I said, they didn’t have the special effects budget to show that.
And for the new movie, well, the Enterprise got destroyed twice in movies that the TOS cast were in — ST II and STG.
And if we get a better looking ship out of this, that would be great. I certainly do seem to recall you being one of the people who have criticized the look of the JJ Enterprise in these movies?
…meant STIII in the above post
Yeah, ya gotta remember it was a BIG deal to destroy the E in TSFS. Never happened before. And the only time it did was intentionally through Kirk’s own orders.
Then…Generations. And now, for the first time since then, it happens again.
And I will be glad to see that one go. Never was a fan of JJ’s “hotrod” E. Just looked too awkward. Too many odd lines and proportions that made it feel imbalanced.
@35. DIsagree. during TOS the enterprise wasnt so badly damaged and swiss cheesed up, it didn’t take a year at earth to rebuild and repair to get on with his 5 year mission.
I would be glad to see the JJprise go away. Im not a fan of the xwing style bussard collectors and awful dimensions. However, new fans of the franchise will just think Kirk is a brat and cant maneuver his ship out of a wet paper bag. He’s always breaking it. That isnt who Kirk is.
@35 Prodigal
The point isn’t whether TOS or the original movies *ever* damaged/destroyed the Enterprise, the point here is that it is happening with *every* Rebootiverse flick. Near-destruction of the Enteprise never occurred with *that* kind of regularity in TOS or the TOS movies. As I said, it’s just a weak plot device.
Damage or peril to the Enterprise was an integral or at least reasonable part of episodes like Doomsday Machine, Balance of Terror, or to a lesser extent, Immunity Syndrome. But look at some great/defining TOS Trek episodes: “Errand of Mercy,” “City on the Edge of Forever,” “Trouble with Tribbles,” or “Amok Time,” in which there wasn’t even a notion of Enterprise at risk.
Would I like a different Enterprise? Absolutely, but that’s an entirely separate point from the abuse of the plot device.
40. Soonerdave – December 18, 2015
Well but maybe Simon Pegg and others feel the same away about JJ’s E, and that is WHY it is a plot device in this movie.
Maybe it’s a device because a lot of people on the creative side want a new E too.
And not just a new E: A new ship also creates the opportunity for an entirely new interior.
@meee
Again, as many times as the E was severely damaged in TOS, they simply did not have the special effects budget to show it. And they certainly did’t do arc stories back then, so having the ship get major repairs and be out of service for months was not a story option the writers could use.
I have no problem with the E’s destruction. Unlike Trek 3, I havent had an emotional investment of 79 hours of television and 4 hours of motion picture time to endear myself with the new ship. It is just a ship to me. If it has to bite the dust, as a plot device to strand the crew and put Kirk into another no-win scenario, I’m ok with that.
@ Sooner Dave
In 2 out of 7 of the Trek movies involving original cast members, the E was completely destroyed. Fact!
The NX-01 and Voyager were always getting the crap beat out of them.
@ 45: In how many of the 79 episodes of TOS, was the Big E destroyed? Answer: ZERO!
Just blow up the damn ship!
And technically, the ship isn’t being blown to bits. The way it is destroyed in the trailer together with what Lin says about the story gives its destruction a decidedly philosophical meaning.
It’s the idea of bigger ship = better ship, which is what you find our own military modeled after, vs. greater numbers of smaller less individually powerful, perhaps less individually advanced ships — and the large mass of smaller, less individually powerful ships (a hive?) wins.
That’s not just mindless blowing up the ship action — it’s action which represents a battle between philosophies.
Some might argue we are facing exactly that kind of battle against terrorism right now.
@28. Poliander – December 18, 2015
“Haven’t seen this pic before:
https://twitter.com/batuffoloki/status/677894299032363008”
Thanks for the link.
Looks like a scene at the starbase’s Ten Forward. The crew seem relaxed, wearing civilian outfits, and looking up at a newsfeed or something.